WHAT IS BEST: TIGRIS OR EUPHARTES?
Tuesday, 25 February 2003
By Correspondent
Squatting like a modern day Babylon, Baghdad is a city between 2 rivers. These ancient water roots have fed mankind's imagination for years. Like the original Noah, an ancient Mesopotamian epic tells the story of how the people of the Euphrates challenged the tribes of the Tigris to a rowing duel. The first to reach the sea would have all the land between the two rivers; perhaps the most fertile soil of the ancient middle east. Before the race an angel appeared before Freddo of the Euphrates and bade him to follow him. He was led down to the banks of the river where he found the first fibreglass vessel ever made (it now resides in the Baghdad museum, don't believe me? Go see for yourself!). A slim and pointy boat, it led Freddo to victory. At the victory feast Freddo ordered that frogs from the delta of the two rivers be gathered up and placed in a steaming pot of water along with a mixture of African cocoa leaves. The result? Well go down to the milk bar and see for yourself, it now comes in many flavours and colours.
Another story tells of Euripdes and Tigrides twin sons of King Canute who was washed ashore in the delta of the two mighty rivers of Iraq. It seems the old king was swept of the beach near Kent where he had been...
